Japanese word

ひらがな

Pronunciation

Romajihiragana

Meaning

  • nounhiragana

Example

ひらがなで名前を書きます。hi ra ga na de na mae o ka ki ma su

I write my name in hiragana.

Illustration for ひらがな (hiragana)

More examples

この辞書では、漢字の読みをひらがなで示しています。ko no ji sho de wa kan ji no yo mi o hi ra ga na de shime shi te i ma su

In this dictionary, kanji readings are shown in hiragana.

Core concept

Describes the flowing phonetic script used to write native Japanese words, grammatical forms, and readings of more complex characters.

Common phrases

  • ひらがなで書くhi ra ga na de ka ku

    write in hiragana

  • ひらがなを読むhi ra ga na o yo mu

    read hiragana

  • ひらがなの読み方hi ra ga na no yo mi kata

    how to read hiragana

  • ひらがな表記hi ra ga na hyō ki

    hiragana notation

Definition in Japanese

日本語の音節や文法的な要素を書き表す、漢字の草書体から生まれた仮名の一種。nihon go no on setsu ya bun pō teki na yō so o ka ki arawa su kan ji no sō sho tai ka ra u ma re ta ka na no is shu

Word origin

ひらがな (hiragana) is written 平仮名 (hiragana), from 平 (hira, "plain") and 仮名 (kana, "phonetic characters"); its shapes come from cursive forms of 漢字 (kanji) used phonetically.

Usage tips

  • In modern Japanese, ひらがな (hiragana) commonly shows grammatical endings attached to words that contain 漢字 (kanji), making word boundaries and grammar easier to follow.

Word lists with this word